Alone
by Traw
Summary: Even though he was aware that he was under the constant surveillance of his friends who watched his back, ready to protect him if the need arose, he could not remember a time in his life when he had felt as isolated, as scared as he did now. Danny was not the only one, after the undercover case went horribly wrong, who felt so alone. Sometimes a oneshot begs to become a story...
1. Chapter 1

He stood on the water's edge, letting the waves wash over his bare feet as he watched the sun slowly sink below the horizon. He sighed silently and closed his eyes; even though he was aware that he was under the constant surveillance of his friends who watched his back, ready to protect him if the need arose, he could not remember a time in his life when he had felt as isolated or as scared as he did now. He just wanted this to be over.

He heard the crunch of tires on the gravel at the front of the house a moment before he heard the slamming of the car door and the angry shout of his name. "DANIEL!" He sighed again and turned, resisting the urge to look around for the friendly faces he knew were hidden in the dark recesses as he walked slowly back towards the house, towards the man who seem to wield such power that he seemed almost invincible.

Forcing a smile, he stepped through the back door and warmly greeted the man who stood by the table, "Hey Martin, what's shakin' Bruddah?"

The angry growl caught him by surprise. He had no time to react to the stunning blow to the face that toppled him backwards into the wall where he slumped to the floor before a hard kick to the stomach drove the breath from his lungs. He gasped in pain and tried to curl into a protective ball on the ground as he desperately tried to will away the darkness that threatened to rob him of his consciousness.

"What's shakin' Bruddah?" Martin Rodgers mimicked, reaching down to grab the front of the semi-conscious man's shirt. He pulled him to his feet before slamming his body back against the wall. "What's shakin' Bruddah is the fact that you're a damn undercover cop! One of McGarrett's little piglets! I bet McGarrett's sitting outside right now waiting to make his move!" Martin roared, his spittle hitting his victim in the face as he turned and yelled over his shoulder, "McGarrett if you think can send in one of your little piggies to set me up than I'm going to send you out some bacon!" Drawing a knife from his coat pocket, he plunged it deeply into the young detective's chest, laughing as Williams cried out in pain.

Martin grinned as he heard the running footsteps and heard McGarrett shout, "Police! Drop the knife and let him go, Rodgers, we have you surrounded!" Pulling the knife free, he raised it in preparation to strike again as he turned towards the lead detective of the Hawaiian State Police Unit - Hawaii Five O.

"Make me, McGarrett!" He taunted the detective as he began to bring the knife toward his victim again. The loud sound of gunfire reverberated around the small room as Rodgers jerked when the bullets struck his body. The knife fell with a clatter to the floor only a moment before both Rodgers and his victim tumbled silently to the ground, neither man moving as the gun smoke began to clear.

He stood on the water's edge, letting the waves wash over his bare feet. He watched the sun slowly sink below the horizon before he turned around and watched silently as his colleagues and friends all rushed towards the two bodies that now lay motionless on the ground…

Rushed towards his body…

He watched himself weakly arch his back and try to cry out in pain as they tore open his shirt and pressed down on the bloody ragged hole in his chest, but standing here watching the events that were unfurling before him, he strangely felt none of the pain.

He had never seen Steve look so scared as he heard McGarrett's soft, whispered pleas for him 'Not to give up,' and the promise that 'the ambulance was on its way.'

He could not remember a time in his life when he had felt as scared as he did now. But as his world faded away and he lost his fight to remain conscious, the fear slipped away as he heard Steve's soft reassurance that he would be okay.


	2. Chapter 2

Chin sighed silently as he caught the flicker of hopeful expectation change to a look of disappointment before being hidden behind the stern mask of his boss' face when McGarrett realized he was not the man he was anxiously waiting for. Stepping into the room, the oriental detective softly closed the door behind him before he announced quietly. "Rodgers is pau, Steve, he just died on the operating table."

McGarrett nodded, almost disinterestedly, before he turned away to stare out of the window. Chin hesitated a moment before stepping closer. "Any word on Danny yet?"

"He's still in surgery. Doc wasn't hopeful when they took him up. His left lung has collapsed and they weren't sure if the knife has damaged his heart. He has lost a lot of blood. Bergman said it's going to be touch and go." McGarrett answered tonelessly as he continued to stare out at the darkness before he suddenly hit the window with a closed fist causing Chin to jump as he growled angrily, "This is all my fault Chin."

"Steve, Danny's a cop. He knows the risks of undercover…" Chin began but stopped as McGarrett turned, the look of guilt and devastation on the dark haired detective's face shocked him into silence.

"Danno wanted out, Chin, but I …" Anything else Steve was about to say was forgotten as the door to the waiting room opened and Doc entered the room, the blue surgical cap he wore in surgery was still on his head and his blue surgical mask hung forgotten around his neck, the expression on the physician's face was grim McGarrett felt his chest tighten in fear as he forced the air from his lungs to whisper. "Doc?"

"He's alive, Steve, he's extremely weak but he's alive." Doc answered softly as he reached for the coffee pot sitting on the table and poured himself a mug, taking a sip of the strong brew before he turned back to the two detectives who were holding their breaths for the yet unspoken news that they sensed was still to come. Drawing a deep breath, Bergman nodded towards the chairs but did not comment when neither man made a move to sit as he continued. "Danny's condition is critical, the blade caused a extensive damage to his left lung causing critical blood loss and his lung to collapse but it did miss his heart. We have managed to repair the tear and are attempting to re-inflate the lung. I'm sorry Steve but at the moment it is touch and go." Doc finished softly trying to control the tremble in his voice

"Oh God, " McGarrett whispered as his heart sunk at the pessimistic report. "Can… can I see him?"

Bergman nodded. "They should have him settled in the ICU by now. I'll take you up."

"Mahalo, Doc." Steve whispered through his tightened throat as he and Chin followed Bergman to the elevator. He heard Chin speak to Doc but never took any notice to what was said as he followed the two men into the elevator as the soft mantra continually played over and over in his head. _'This is all my fault, if Danno dies, it will be my fault!'_

Xxxx

Entering the hushed ICU room, Chin Ho Kelly was shocked at the sight of his young colleague lying motionless in the bed. An oxygen mask hid the bottom half of Danny's face and the white bandages that encircle his chest stood out starkly against the grey complexion of Danny's skin, several drips hung above the bed, their tubes snaking down to disappear beneath tape that was stuck to the back of Danny's left hand. Glancing at the heart monitor on a table next to the bed Chin watched as s soft green blip flickered slowly across the screen – _flickered too slowly _Chin thought.

Swallowing hard, the Chinese detective slowly approached the bed and placed his hand gently on the patient's arm, carefully avoiding touching the plastic tube that protruded from the chest bandages and disappeared down the side of the bed. Lightly squeezing the arm beneath his hand, Chin whispered that both he and Steve were present and that the young detective was safe. Aware that his boss had paused near the doorway and was probably waiting to visit with the critical man on his own, Chin softly admonished Danny to rest and recover his strength, promising to return to visit soon.

Turning towards the man standing silently near the door, he waited for McGarrett to approach the bed, surprised when the lead detective remained still, staring at the figure in the bed. Trading a worried glance with the physician standing behind McGarrett, the oriental detective stepped away from the bed and quietly cleared his throat before whispering, "Steve?"

McGarrett blinked and broke the stare before slowly focusing on Chin's concerned face. "I…I can't." He whispered before turning suddenly and knocking past Doc rushed from the room, leaving the two men staring in shock at the hospital room door as it closed silently behind the fleeing man.

Bergman stood silently for a moment before turning back to the stunned detective still staring at the door. "He's upset Chin, more upset than I have ever seen him before. He's blaming himself for what ever happened tonight. Steve seems to believe he is responsible for Danny being injured."

Chin nodded, casting a quick glance at Danny before refocusing his attention on Doc. "In the waiting room he said something about Danny wanting out…"

"Maybe you should find out what happened Chin," Doc advised, "Whatever is going on with Steve, it is preventing him from being here…if something should happen… and Steve's not here…"

Understanding the meaning of Doc's unspoken words, Chin nodded and left the room in search for his boss.

Xxxx

Stepping out of the room, Chin found the upset detective pacing the corridor just outside the room. Hurrying to join him, Chin gently grabbed Steve's arm, determined to find out what was behind the out of character behavior of his boss, "Steve? What's wrong?"

"I blew it, Chin! I blew it and let Danno down. He's fighting for his life because he trusted me and I failed him." McGarrett growled angrily, pulling his arm free from his detective's light hold. "Danno wanted out. He thought his cover had been blown but I talked him into staying under. I promised him that I had his back and at the first sign of trouble, we would move in." McGarrett laughed derisively and slowly shook his head staring at the wall just behind Chin's shoulder, "Yeah, I really was watching his back for him, wasn't I?" McGarrett said softly as he turned back to stare through the window at the motionless figure in the bed. "I pushed him to stay undercover. I ignored the danger Danno believed he was in, all because I thought this was our best shot of finally getting Rodgers off the street." McGarrett swallowed hard, ignoring the single tear that now trickled down the side of his face as he admitted guiltily, "I gambled with Danno's life and now Danno is paying the price. He trusted me to keep him safe and I failed!"

"I don't understand, Boss." Chin said softly, confused why Steve had insisted Dan stay undercover with the risk that Dan's cover had been blown and more importantly why Dan had reluctantly agreed. "Why did Danny believe his cover was blown and why did he agree to stay undercover? Danny is one akamai cop, Bruddah; no way would he stay in a dangerous situation when his cover was blown, even if you did insist he did."

Never taking his eyes from the man in the bed, McGarrett drew in a shuddering breath before he quietly began to explain the heated conversation that had occurred between the two lead detectives only a few short hours before and that had been responsible for Danny reluctantly remaining undercover. "Danno rang me at home this morning and arranged to meet with me on the beach in the alcove just beyond Rodger's house about ten. He said it was the only time he could manage to sneak away unnoticed.

He was waiting for me when I arrived at the arranged meeting place. He seemed anxious, agitated. He told me that last night Rodgers received a late phone call but Danno wasn't able to ascertain who the phone call was from. Danno said after the phone call Rodgers became quite agitated, paranoid, complaining that we were trying to set him up for a bust that someone in the organization was on our payroll. Danno said he tried to placate Rodgers, tried to reassure Rodgers that there was no undercover cops but Rodgers was insistent that his information was correct, that his contact had warned him that I had placed an officer undercover. Rodgers was to meet with the contact this morning. Danno was worried the contact would point the finger at him. "

"Did Danny know who Rodgers' contact might have been?" Chin asked quietly.

McGarrett shook his head, "Danno suspected it could have been someone on the take from HPD. Rodgers seemed to know our every move even before we made it."

Chin's eyes opened wide at the information. "I don't like to admit it, Boss but Danny's suspicions could be right. HPD lost the surveillance on Rodgers for several hours this morning. If someone in HPD was involved than maybe losing Rodgers' tail wasn't an accident."

McGarrett nodded, "I should have pulled Danno out as soon as he mentioned the possibility of someone in HPD being involved but I didn't instead I talked Danno into remaining undercover, promised him we had his back. We were so close to having enough evidence to convict Rodgers on importation and distribution of drugs and ordering the hits on Charlie Hakaki and his two enforcers that I thought we could move in and pull Danny out safely in a few more hours."

"Boss, you thought you were making the right move. Danny must have believed so as well or else he wouldn't have decided to remain undercover." Chin tried to reassure his boss.

McGarrett nodded unconvincingly as he turned back to the window and looked back into the ICU room where his Second-In-Command and closest friend now battled for life. "I should have pulled him out Chin."

"Steve…" Chin began but was interrupted as McGarrett drew a deep breath and turned back to him

"If Danno was right and Rodgers' did have someone on his payroll at HPD, I want to know who it was!" McGarrett growled. "I want you to check with the phone company for all incoming and outgoing calls to Rodgers' house last night. Also check the HPD officers who were suppose to be tailing Rodgers this morning- find out just how the Hell they lost him! Get Kono and Duke to hit the streets and squeeze their snitches and to squeeze them hard. I want to know just where Rodgers went this and who he met with."

"Done Boss!" Chin said as he turned to leave. Taking a couple of steps, the oriental detective turned back to his Boss, "Where will you be?"

"I'm going to stay with Danno." McGarrett answered softly, "I let him down once Chin, I'm not going to let him down again."

Chin nodded and watched as McGarrett walked to the ICU room door and opened it, stepping inside before he turned and hurried to the elevator.


	3. Chapter 3

Hearing the anteroom office door open, Kono looked up expectantly from the financial books he was studying, grateful for the interruption, as Chin entered his cubicle and sat heavily in the chair on the other side of his desk. The oriental detective looked as exhausted as he felt and Kono waited impatiently as Chin pulled his pipe from his pocket and tapped it against the edge of the desk. Unable to wait anymore, the Hawaiian detective asked anxiously, "How's Danny?"

"Not good!" Chin replied softly, "Doc has him listed as critical." Chin paused and stared down at the unlit pipe in his hand as he added, "There's a chance that he might not make it."

"Auwe!" Kono whispered, paling at the mere thought, "How's da Boss taking it?"

"He's blaming himself." Chin answered softly as he turned the pipe over in his hand before looking up at his Hawaiian colleague. "Did you know Danny wanted out of the undercover job?" Kono shook his head silently as Chin continued, "Steve said he rang him early this morning and arranged to meet on the beach about ten. He thought his cover had been blown."

Kono's eyes opened wide at the significance of the time, "Dat's about when HPD lost da surveillance on Rodgers."

"Yeah," Chin agreed before continuing, "Steve said that when Danny met with him he was upset, anxious, was convinced his cover had been blown after Rodger's had received a phone call last night. He told Steve he thought someone in HPD might have been involved."

"Danny suspected someone from HPD?" Kono asked in surprise.

Chin nodded, "Steve wants us to check the HPD officers involved in the surveillance on Rodgers this morning. He wants full background checks on them and explanations on how Rodgers managed to give them the slip."

"That ain't gunna be easy, Bruddah." Kono murmured, "Especially if we don't wanna create waves with HPD."

"Maybe Duke would be better doing the checks," Chin mused, aware that any Five O checks on HPD officers would cause tension between HPD and Five O. "Steve also wants a full check on all incoming and outgoing calls to Rodgers house last night - someone tipped Rodgers off about Danny."

"Will do." Kono answered as he pushed the books he had been studying across the table to his colleague."We found these when we searched Rodgers' house." He began as Chin pulled the books closer. "They seem like legitimate account books for his dry-cleaning business and from what I can make of them Rodgers was making a loss." Chin grunted his disbelief as Kono smiled and slid a second set of books across to him. "But then we found these hidden in a false bottom of his office desk. Got a lotta important names in there, Bruddah, each making Rodgers large monthly 'donations'."

"Donations," Chin gave a small whistle as he scanned the names in the books, "Or blackmail money?"

"Might be interestin' to find out." Kono agreed.

"Danny's been gathering evidence of Rodgers' racketeering and extortion business." Chin began thoughtfully as he pulled out his tobacco and began to fill his pipe. "If this book is any true indication of Rodgers' 'beneficiaries', he would need some serious muscle to make them co-operate."

"And if da kaikaina suspected someone from HPD was involved." Kono breathed, shaking his head, "Dat would explain why Rodgers knew our every move."

"And when Danny got too close for comfort…"

"They tipped Rodgers off." Kono finished, his large brown eyes flashing with anger with the possibility that one of their own had betrayed them. "No wonder Danny wanted out so bad." Chin nodded as Kono frowned, "But why did he allow Steve to talk him into stayin'?"

"I guess he didn't want to disappoint the Boss." Chin answered softly as he placed the unlit pipe in his mouth and glanced down at his watch. "It's after midnight," he announced as he looked back up at the large Hawaiian detective yawning across from where he sat, "There's not much more we can do tonight. How about we knock off and start again in the morning- about seven?"

Kono nodded tiredly as he slowly rose from his seat and turned to grab his coat, "Sounds like a good idea," Kono blushed and shrugged as he added, "but first I think I might stop at da hospital and check on Danny."

"Let me know if there has been any change." Chin asked softly, watching as Kono nodded tiredly and walked out of the door before he picked up the account books in front of him and began to read.

Xxxxx

Hearing the door open, Doc turned and watched as McGarrett entered the room and slowly walked to the edge of the bed.

Reaching over the bed rail, McGarrett placed a hand on Danny's cool arm, giving it a light squeeze, "I'm so sorry Danno, this is all my fault, I should have gotten you out as soon as you suspected your cover was blown. I shouldn't have talked you into staying... We... we could have gotten Rodgers another way. I...I made a mistake..." His voice caught in his throat as the guilt threatened to overwhelm him. He had failed his guys... he was supposed to keep them safe...Danno had tried to warn him, he told him his cover was blown but he had not listened. Snagging a chair behind him with his foot, he pulled it closer. "I'm so sorry aikane.." He whispered brokenly as he sat down, his hand only leaving Danny's arm briefly as he pulled the chair even closer before he returned it.

"I'll let the nurses know that you have my permission to stay with him, Steve," Bergman quietly informed the upset detective as he stepped forward and performed a quick cursory check of his patient, reassuring himself that Danny was stable. "I'm going to try and get some sleep. If you need me for anything, I'll be in the doctor's lounge."

"Mahalo Doc." Steve murmured, his eyes never leaving his young friend's face.

Hesitating before he walked out of the door, Doc turned back and studied the dark hair detective, whispering a silent prayer of thanks for whatever Chin had said to the distraught man that had returned Steve back to the one place he most needed to be- by Danny's side. He added an extra prayer to give Danny the strength to recover before he turned and left the room.


End file.
